This was the second time Susan Alexandra co-hosted a Seder dinner with the Jewish Food Society, and admittedly, I didn’t attend the first iteration of the event because I felt a little intimidated by the idea. But for Susan Korn, founder of Susan Alexandra, the intention was to make everyone in the room feel the exact opposite: “I reached out to friends, new and old, people who are involved in Jewish things and then people who are not Jewish at all,” she told me a few minutes before we all took our seats. “I just think it’s a really cool way to observe how things are done in other places, if you’re a curious, interested person.”
Over 75 people were mingling with their pickle cocktails in hand before we were all asked to take a seat wherever we wanted. “I grew up on a kibbutz in Israel, and Seder for us was a performance, like an art show,” Naama Shefi, founder of the Jewish Food Society told me briefly beforehand. “Here, everyone is welcome and we are so excited for everyone to literally have a seat at the table.”